


A Humble Scholar

by EnidZsasz



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Он – дракон | I Am Dragon (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragon Ben, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-04-23 14:28:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19152904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnidZsasz/pseuds/EnidZsasz
Summary: (based on I am dragon)Rey is a Princess, as such she is getting married. To a much older man named Unkar Plutt in order to foster a strong alliance between her country and his. The ritual for married is based off a old ritual for sacrifice, as much as Rey loves to research these things she is not a child anymore and must put away her toys. Her father to at least send her off decided to commit fully to the ritual summoning something ancient.





	A Humble Scholar

Rey flinched as one of her bridesmaids yanked at her hair, forcing her hands to jerk and drop a small bit of paper folded into the shape of a dragon or at least a bird flew from her hands and plopped directly into a footbath filled with lukewarm water. She moved to grab it when the maid yanked the long trail of hair back forcing her to stay sitting up. Other set of maids grabbed her ankles, and removed the bath. One drying her feet. "WAIT!" she tried again, only to have the braid yanked a little harder. She hissed in pain. "Stop you're hurting me!" she called. 

"Well I wouldn't if you stay still." the maid snapped. 

"My dragon!" The maids were carrying the copper footbath out and away. Just as her father came through the door he plucked the paper from the water and frowned over it as he walked to her. 

"Don't you think its time to put away your toys?" he asked her. 

"Its not a toy!" Rey defended. "I... want it to fly..." Her father sighed. 

"Sir Tekka?" the maid behind her asked, he nodded. "Her hair is almost done." Tekka placed the soaked dragon onto a table, as the maid finished the braid behind her. It felt very heavy, and Rey wished for yet another year that she could actually cut her hair. It just wasn't done, not for her status. The one time she tried, her had her hands tied together for a week. Tekka smiled to her. 

"I was able to do something to ease your mind about this." he told her. Rey looked up at him as the maid started to weave in Red flowers. "Remember Elder Maz?" he asked her and smiled to her, kneeing in front of her. 

"Yes? I remember her." Rey stayed as still as possible as the maid drew a long series of dried red seeds around her neck. 

"This marriage ceramony comes from a dark time, Maz remembers such a time, and for you Rey." Tekka rose his hand and touched her cheek. "I asked her to tell the men to sing the song." Rey swallowed. "It is what was once sang when we gave our daughters to _THEM_. I asked her to teach it to the men." She smiled to him and he finally drew away from her. 

"Does it have to be him?" she asked him softly. 

"Rey, one does not marry for love." she grimaced looking down to the ground as someone put white slippers onto her feet. Pearls dotted the tops of them in a small sunburst pattern. "You come to love him, as your mother came to love me." She felt a shiver run down her back. 

"Thank you father." she told him and looked up to smile at him. "Will... will I be able to... read... more?" Tekka frowned at her shaking his head. 

"When things have calmed down you can see about reading. Plutt has a great castle." Tekka told her. "I am sure it has a greater archive then ours." She nodded her stomach curling in on itself as the veil was woven on-top of her head. "It isn't bad Rey. With this you will never have to worry about anything, he is a KING. You will live in luxury!" She smiled to him. 

"I will see you again?" she asked him. 

"Of course! There are many negotiations to be had!" Rey stood and he hugged her. "He is not so bad." he told her and left. She forced herself to relax, shoulders slumping as they started fawning over her, pilling on white clothes. A ermine collar and a high mitire with the same sunburst pattern in off white and grey colors and pearls. She was drawn over a long walk barefooted across red berries. Them getting crushed and leaking out just like blood, and coloring the low hem of her dress and train. She was lead then to just outside of the main castle to outside of its walls. 

She pushed her head up as she was laid down in a wooden boat. A small candle burned in metal holder by her head, along the sides of the boat, from headstock to quarter knee were logs that steadied the boat. It was almost like a coffin, and shaped to hold a single person lying down. On the front, was a breasthook in the shape of a dragon. A rope was wound around it and as was placed in she noted that two of Unkar's Men were the ones standing by the other end to pull her across the water. Ice floated around it, it was the dead of winter, where no one in their right mind would bring any army to this place. Particularly since the castle and town were almost completely surrounded by the lake. 

Several old and young woman placed strings of jewels from Pearls to glass beads. She leaned back and swallowed down staring up at the sky. Her fathers men picked up the boat, taking it to the water placing her in. There was a quiet chill, as she was left floating in the boat in the water. Slowly men started to stamp their spears and feet as they picked up a song, sung low. 

"Before time, before the dust when before the sun and seas were parted. Nothing lived and froze the rivers. Falsity changed to verity and time became a fast flowing river. Spared none in its path, not the dust nor the sun. Our bride awaits now her bridegroom awaiting her destiny. Clad in snowy white, stained by time as when clad in pale shrouds. The peace of eternal shall come for her, for her wedding bell tolls. Come for her, take her away, come for her, take her away. The maiden is yours for eternal time." they sang. Voices bolstered after the first rendition by female voice's carrying high as they slowly dragged her across the lake. A great fog rolled in cutting off the end in a sudden hush as a large gust of wind screamed through the entire keep and lake. Blasting out her candle as it passed over her. 

Her heart raced, then a noise ran through the entire world. It sounded like the scream of a wounded horse given a demonic snarl. 

 

 

Rey sniffed wincing as she pulled up the torn dress, having lost much of her clothes and everything. Pain lanced through her from a small puncture on her side, as she slowly examined herself and her wounds. Many more were all over her, from a growing bruise on her shoulder along with long scrapes there to her feet that felt more awful and cold. The air was chill, but yet still warm, smelling keenly of salt, and strangely hair and dust. She looked up from a rocky pit at the little filtered that did come down. One of her sashes hung down as she settled down into a quiet sob. 

 

 

A great black creature descended from the sky, it hovered for a moment as Rey froze in awe. It roared once more before it grabbed the boat, its claws easily digging into the wood and not her as beat its wing down with great beats. Lifting the boat, her and itself from the surface of the lake. "GRAB THE ROPE!" screamed one man, there was a jerk, and for a moment it pulled taught, she gripped the sides of the boat looking straight up at the red flames that were encasing its chest like the very veins under her skin. Then the boat was yanked from its grasp and she fell in freefall. Falling out of the boat, she had only time to gulp in air before the beast moving faster then any man could dived, claws grabbing her. One dug into her side the point going through layers of clothes and skirts as it roared again and flew into the sky.

The wind was blistering cold as it snapped around her pulling at everything not almost sewn to her, she lost her mitre, he ermine scarf, and most of the coat say for a bit of sleeve and the part pinned to her from the claw digging into her skin. It flew for hours, and she went through a period of falling into unconsciousness as it flew through rain soaked clouds. She too again as it roared again, flying through dark formations, and hovering in a large cavity inside of some island. Suddenly it jerked as if it were struck by something, its claws let go of her. She hit the ground on her side, rolling on sharp weathered rocks. All her breath was gone as the dragon made a strange sort of strangled roar, the fire that encased its chest dimming down for a moment. She took a breath in and screamed, its large head snapped to her, and she pushed herself backwards. 

Rocks broke beneath her, and she slipped downwards as the dragon lunged for her. Her shoulder hit a rock, and she rolled downwards towards darkness with a cry. Hitting the ground again took whatever breath she had to scream as she desperately grabbed for anything as she rolled down towards a a pit. Her hands snagged on a sash that had made it through, it stuck to a thick dead branch of some bush or tree. The dragon shook its head and turned to her. It growled, staring at her with angry red eyes, and lunged with its jaws and she let go to fall down into a pit. Landing hard on her back she stared up at the dragon as it tried to get to her its body to massive to actually reach down. Even with its head. After what felt like hours it gave a frustrated cry and left. Rey was left panting staring blindly up at the darkness, she rolled to her side curling in on herself as her mind caught up with what just happened. 

A dragon, a dragon had come and taken her to its lair. She was currently safe from it, but more then likely alone. They were real not a fancy of old people like Maz. A real creature that was more terrifying then anything she had seen. 

 

 

Rey pushed herself up with a wince taking in her surroundings as the light of what must be day finally broached the pit. Part of it was pock-marked looking like bone and the other was large rocks and dirt blown in from the wind. She paced as she looked to the sash, it was just high enough that she could jump to grab it, and it was still lodged where it had been, meaning she could reach up and grab it and use it to climb outside of the pit and escape. Her long hair braid on her shoulder she threw it behind her, and stood wiping her face with her sleeve. She jumped, grabbing it, and kicked blindly as she got off the ground. Her toes, still stained red found purchase on the rock and she braced herself with them as she started to climb out of the pit. Something stirred above her uncoiling with a utterly unnatural sound. Her hands clenched the fabric hard as she watched as from a hollow portion of the strange bone like wall a creature slowly slid out. 

It looked nothing like the creatures she knew of, and none she had ever read of. Almost dog like in the way it was constructed it slowly crawled out of the hole where it must sleep. Its had no fur and instead it had long spade shaped scales all over it, the exact color of the bone and rock it twisted its head with large brown eyes staring at her. Its long tail curled out balancing it as it held itself onto the rocks with long claws. It hissed at her as she stared at it, then it lunged for her, and she let the fabric go in her hands landing in a roll. The creature climbed down hissing and coiling and uncoiling its scaled tale creating a alien noise like rasp over wood. She let out a small strangled cry. "HELP. SOMEONE HELP ME!" 

"QUIET!" a deep voice carried through the pit. The creature hushed, but then continued to hiss at her as she stared at it. "You'll wake the dragon." the voice told her. She pressed herself up against the wall of the pit. 

"What is this thing?" she demanded breathing out shakily. 

"Look away from it." the voice commanded. She looked quickly around looking for the source of the voice, the creature stopped hissing and she froze ogling the creature as it regarded her. Tail stilling straight up in the air like a good hound. "Don't MOVE." the voice commanded, and she took a sharp breath as it approached her. It sniffed at her feet and the stained hem of her dress. It shook its head and then looked up at her eyes going wide and almost friendly before it shook itself fully, the dry rasping sound prevading the area before it lept upwards nimbly climbing the rock wall. At the rim it glanced at the sash, which had been dyed from the berries days before the wedding and then dried. It grabbed it, and then dragged it off and away making little sort of clicking noises. 

"What is that?" she asked quietly. There was a shift, and she looked around her again not seeing anything. From on top of the pit the creature emerged again, and threw down a half eaten fish. She flinched and watched it as it clicked at her and then vanished again. "Is it a warden for the dragon?" 

"Yes.... it is." the voice, it had to belong to a man told her. 

"Where are you?" Rey looked around again a large hand showed out from a hole in the wall of the pit. Then it vanished quickly. "Who are you? Are you a prisoner too?" she could only really spy part of is face, he had a large nose, and dark hair with pale skin. 

"You should stay quiet, the dragon... is sleeping." he told her. Rey frowned ad stared up at the lip of the pit. 

"We need to escape." 

"You can't escape, the dragon will find you." he told her. Rey backed up into the wall and felt her braid. "Just stay there until your love comes to slay the dragon." She sighed and slipped down to the ground. 

"There isn't a chance of that happening." she replied scornfully. "He'd send his troops, or sons. I'm his third wife...." she brought up her knees to her chest hissing in pain as it jarred her wounds. "My name is Rey what is yours?" she asked him. "Hello?" she called when there was no reply. 

"I never.... I don't have a name." he told her unsurely. She shivered as wind came through the cracks in the pit chilling her just a little. She hugged herself a little more thinking. 

"Is the dragon planing on eating us?" there was another set of silence. "Sorry, I should talk about something more hopeful. How about we choose a name of you?" there was still silence. "Are you still there?" His hand passed through the hole holding a flat rock with some type of plant on it. Both green leaves, and spindly yellow bits. 

"This plant can help your wounds." he told her, she frowned at him. "It comes from the dragon... lair, it... sometimes falls down." she reached out and haltingly took it from him careful not to touch his hands. 

"Thank you." she drew back holding the flat rock up to her to smell it. It smelled wonderful to her, as she turned placing the rock carefully down. 

"Chew it into a paste, and rub it on your wounds." she turned to the hole and nodded. Taking a bit and doing as he asked, she spat it out and dropped one side of her dress down to access her shoulder. She ran the paste over the abrasions on her shoulder, pulling the loose dress down further and slipping her arm out of the sleeve. The puncture on her side wasn't as bad as she thought it was as she chewed up another bit of the plant. There was a shift and she started, hunching over herself and wrapping herself back up. 

"ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?" she demanded not looking back almost fearful for the truth. 

"Yes, I am." he said simply. Rey bristled. 

"Don't-" her voice cracked. "Don't you know its improper to spy?! To look at a lady in a state of undress?!" There was a low hissing noise, undercut by a growl. Rey grabbed up a rock that looked like it could fit in the hole. 

"Be quiet the dra-" she turned and slammed the rock into the hole. There was another growl and she flinched hunkering down as not a long moment afterwards the dragon roared, and soon appeared back at the top of the pit. It glared down at her and tried to snap at her. It's massive head couldn't reach her as she closed her eyes riding out the dragon's fury, it stopped trying to grab her, and for a long time paced heavily around the top of the pit. Once things had been quiet for a long time she frowned over the small pile of plant leaves and what must be flower petals. She slowly moved to it, making as little noise as possible until she grabbed it. Shoving the rest into her mouth and chewing it, casting a wary glance to the half eaten fish. 

Getting the rest of her wounds at least slathered with the paste she leaned back stomach aching and throat starting to burn from from lack of water. Rey pulled out her braid, and looked up at the rim of the pit. A little searching she found a rock, well a bit of hard bone really, that was sharp enough for her to use. Carefully gripping her hair she sheered at it, cutting just below her shoulders until she had the long braid in her hands. Never cutting her hair in all her eighteen years of life had been brought to a hunk of what could be a rope in her hands. She shook her head and wondered for a moment at the freedom of movement that it felt, and then turned back to the task at hand. Working the cut ends out she undid the braid placing a thick portion of the hair into her toes she started weaving. 

Grabbing a large and heavy rock she set that near her as she wove three more plaits, then took those and wove the three together. Ending it by weaving and tying the ends to the rock. Hefting it into her hands she tossed it up a few times to test its weight. Then hiking it on her shoulder she tossed it towards the rim, the first time it slid off, and she dodged quickly out of the way. Grabbing it up again and tossing it up. The second time, it stuck but the moment she tugged it slipped down and she barely moved out of the way in time to avoid braining herself. The third time was the same, and the forth, until finally on the fifth try it stuck, and she end onto the end of her hair with her weight for a long moment so that she knew it was firmly able to hold her up. 

"I'm getting out of here." she told herself and grabbed the ends, lifting herself up and placing her feet and toes onto the rock wall. She climbed up half the braided hair nearly to a point where she might crawl up out of the rim when her hair rope broke, leaving her to fall back down into the pit with the rope in her hands and now no more weighty enough rocks to become wedged. Frustrated she sobbed, and tossed the long hair rope to the side as it was now more useless than anything else. The little creature with scales clicked at her, staring down, before it seemed to look at something, and then rolled a red fruit down. Rey caught it, holding the strange fruit in her hands, it was almost like someone had combined a oat floret with a olive or apple. The creature chattered happily at her, and left, she looked to the fruit to the fish and decided on the fruit. Knowing if it was poison it would at least kill her more surely then the raw fish. 

Rey bit into the side of it, and spat out the bitter rind before staring at a very strange to her inside of the fruit. It was pinkish white with black seeds on the inside. Juice seeped out from it and she cautiously licked at it. It almost tasted like a tart pear, as she drew back blinking at it. Her hunger and thirst took her and she ate the inside of it as much as she could leaving the bitter rind on the ground and swallowing down at the sticky feeling in her throat, it did little state the thirst still burning in her. 

"Hello?" she called softly. She sighed and stared at the plugged hole. "Are you still there?" Rey slowly stood and pulled out the rock letting to fall to the sand and dirt. She spied a bit of skin and frowned. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, we are both prisoners of the dragon aren't we?" 

"...Yes..." he replied quietly. 

"How long have you been here?" she asked. He shifted and she sat down leaning her head back into the wall. 

"Almost my whole life." Rey let out a sigh of relief, if there was someone here for so long then it can't be bad. 

"Do you know a way out of here?" she asked. 

"You're safer in there, the dragon can't reach you." she glared to the hole. 

"We need to escape..." she frowned, and sighed. 

"You can't escape the dragon, just wait someone will come for you." 

"There has to be a way, dragons... they were said to be intelligent." the man made a noise. "Perhaps I can bargain with it? Why would it want to eat me?" 

"Maybe it... wants something else?" he told her voice cracking. Rey shook her head. 

"All the stories just told me they took women and those that they took never came back. Maybe I could ask it to feed on cattle instead? Sheep? We could give it lots of sheep." Rey looked back up at the rim of the pit. "I want to at least get out of this pit. I am very small I can hide, wait for it to be gone, or asleep and then build a boat?" 

"And then what? Perish at sea? The dragon can burn the ship to cinder. This is an island, surrounded by storms that only the brave would try." Rey sighed in frustration. "What do you even know about dragons?" 

"Everything I could find in my home. Our wedding ceremony used to be a ritual for sacrifice to them, only one girl was chosen, a kings bride and taken. So the king set off to reclaim her, he sailed for days in dense fog. He wandered lands more ancient and ruined then the druids, but still could not find her. As he was sailing home, he spied a great light, like a beacon and sailed to it, there he found an island. He found the remains of his beloved, and then found and slayed the dragon as revenge, before going home." she closed her eyes. 

"I heard a story once like that... a long time ago..." Rey shifted and stood. 

"Well, How about a name?" she reached into her memories, and life. "Ben, or Benjamin. Its a good name." She reached out to the whole. "People shake hands when they meet. Or make a deal. Hello Ben, I'm Rey." Slowly he reached through and she took his hand and gently shook it. 

"I like it. Thank you." He shifted and there seemed to be a light coming from the hole. 

"Ben?"  she called. 

"QUIET!" she flinched and drew away from the hole. There was a growl, something hissing and a pained sort of noise like a animal screaming. The wall where he had been thudded as something hit it and she heard the dragon roar. Rey flatted herself against the other wall staring at the wall with the hole as it shuddered again, the rocks pushing in before there was another roar and the dragon left. She stared up warily, but it never went to the rim of the pit. 

"Ben?" Rey moved to the hole and looked out at darkness. Night had fallen again, the rocks shuddered and she gave them another good look. It had looked like a sturdy rock wall, but now it was ready to collapse freeing her from the pit. She pressed her face to the hole and saw a tiny spit of sky. "Ben!" she hissed quietly. Rey drew back and frowned over the rocks again, she chose one loose looking one and kicked, nearly having the entire wall collapse onto her as it poked through and the wall slipped down making a large enough hole for her to crawl through. The knowledge that the dragon was out there stalled her for a moment but she climbed out, and finally breathed full salty air for the first time in what felt like years. 

Legs and arms light she dashed out and stared up at the sky, only briefly wondering why there wasn't another sort of pit, another sort of prison, before running around the area looking for anything that could float or be her escape. She dodged around a boulder and started around the island in more earnest, heading down to the shorelines. She could barely get a sense of what this this island, bone, sand, dirt, rocks, and more littered around the island. Small bushes and trees sprouted up in cracks of the bones, growing more of those strange fruits like the one she had eaten, one of them was a massive plant. She took a moment to look at it as some of the low fog cleared, Rey was staring up at a massive skull. One of those plants was growing in one of the bottom teeth of the skull. It was a truly massive dragon, and as her eyes tracked around she realized that it was so huge that the majority of its body must be underwater. 

A low roar brought her back to her senses and she looked up to the sky and watched as the dragon roared into the sky. She darted back towards the skull, as it focused on her. She dived into a small pocket in the bone, it roared again as she slid further into the pocket tracing it and coming out along the other side of the entire island and into a bay. Several small ships sat partway in shallow pools of water and one great ship sat further out, partway blasted and still rotting in one large claw, its front caved in and the bowsprit still looking deadly. She breathed out, and dodged back in as the dragon came back around, climbing up she ran around briefly on the outside of the island, being held together by low scrub brushes, as she got up as high as possible. There was less of a chance of the dragon landing up here as the snout of the dragon narrowed. Still open in what must have been its death throws. 

She came out of a tunnel onto a long grey black tooth, and shivered as she looked down to the ground. She turned towards chattering and backed warily from the little scaled creature which was staring at her, soon Ben, it had to be him came ran out. "Back!" he hissed to it holding his hands up. Rey only noted that he had a loose bit of fabric concealing his waist. The creature hissed, and ran behind him into the darkness she had just come from. She backed away looking down quickly, she felt trapped, as he walked to her. "Rey stop its dangerous there. Come to me." It came in a flash, how they were the only two on the island, and how he vanished when the dragon came. The little creature listened to him. 

"That, that thing listened to you!" she accused him. He took a few more steps towards her, Rey spun her hands out as she ended up near the tip of the tooth. "What are you?" 

"Rey, please." She looked down feeling nauseous at the height and closed her eyes. Fanning her arms out she looked back up at him, "Please." he held out his hand she took a step towards him and breathed out shakily. "Yes, that's it-" Her dress hem caught on a rough bit of the tooth snagging and casting her off balance enough to slip right off the tooth. She spinned in the air, face staring right at the quickly advancing ground. A hand briefly touched her stomach before she was nearly thrown back up, she spinned back down and stared down at Ben. Red fire took over his chest radiating outwards to his arms and legs. His body convulsed a moment before it burst into flames and ash, forming a dragon from pure fire. It grabbed her, casting a look behind him as the ground came up to meet them both. Rey squeezed her eyes shut, and only heard a pained cry before the force of the impact made her black out. 

 

She woke when cold ocean water splashed onto her face, Rey rolled pushing herself up in a shift motion. Night was just barely falling now, and she locked her gaze onto the pale skin of Ben. He was still passed out in the ocean, slowly being pulled into the ocean. While one hand concealed himself at the moment she turned away from him feeling her face run hot as she noted he was naked as the day he had been born. It shouldn't be as awkward as it felt, she had seen naked men before, often time soldiers would run naked into the snow after spending time in the steamhut. The little creature began to make a series of distressing noises behind her as she tried to force herself to turn. "He tried to eat you." she told herself. "He...." she let out a sigh and turned, watching as the creature was trying to grab and drag him back onto the rocks. She stalled for a moment then grimaced at herself as she went to him just as his head sunk beneath the growing waves. 

Hooking her arms under his armpits she swore, hearing it from said soldiers, and dragged him staring up at the darkening sky as she barely was able to get him out from the waves as they still grew around the area. "By the lord above you are a heavy bastard." she told his silent form. The creature skittered off and she scowled at it. "YOU COULD HELP!" she yelled after it, and continued to drag him up further into the island. It could be this entire area would be under the ocean waves soon. She heard a soft click and looked down avoiding looking at Ben and watched as the little creature brought truly long robe of some kind. It stared up at her with large brown eyes, holding one part of it in long clawed hands. "Thanks." she panted, and set Ben down for a moment to unravel the long robe. It was almost fully cloth of gold, woven with still bright red threads in geometric shapes. Dragging him fully onto the robe was only half of the work, swaddling him was the other half. She had to rip the hem of her dress down from her knee to create thin stripes of rope to tie up the robe so that it stayed over him and nearly covered his entire body. 

By the time she was done the water was lapping at her again and the creature was chattering and clicking desperately. "What is your name anyways?" she demanded it. Now starting to drag him painfully up, the little creature paused a moment staring at her again. It made a noise almost exactly like a buzzing bee. It shook its entire body, scales moving with the dry rattle. "Well I'm calling you Bee." she told it. It did it again, gripping a portion of the robe in its claws and 'helping' her to drag him into a small low slope around what must be the bottom jaw of the dragon. "Beebee then." it seemed sated by that once she had him well above her height and his on the slop the ocean swallowed up the rocks they were in and Ben hadn't stirred much in any capacity. She leaned over him panting and sweating in the dark. She put her cheek next to his mouth and felt a tiny breath and sighed in relief. BeeBee clicked rapidly towards her and she turned to him. "Just resting." her arms were long past aching, but she kept dragging him, all the way around the jaw and into a small hollow near the top, just as the sun began to rise again. 

Shivering and shaking just inside of it she slumped down by him feeling like all her energy had been sapped out of her. She heard a slipping sound, and reacted quickly, grabbing Ben just before he could slip in anyway down the slope, or off it. With just a few more pulls he was safely in the cave, nothing more then a deep hollow in the jaw, just before the utter end of it. Around her the bone was poked through creating holes into the outside, the air was thick and heavy with quite a lot of the plants he had gave her and one of those fruit trees. Beebee dug at the ground, forming very quickly a hollow and then looked to her, to Ben then to the hollow. She glared to BeeBee and gave out a long low growl. It started, then started to chirp, and click happily running around in the circle before bounding towards her, and before she could react leap up and run a long tongue along her cheek before excitedly leaving the cave. Rey blinked in confusion of the act, and then shrugged using the last of her strength to push and pull Ben into the hollow and then lay down next to him, as her body started shivering further in the aftermath. 

Beebee some time later to the point it was getting humid and hot in the cave brought up to of the fruits to her, walking almost like a stooped over human holding the things in his front claws. Then ran next to Ben curling up next to him as she picked up the fruit, and quickly ate them, throwing the bitter rinds out of one large hole and away from the area. The meal was quickly taken into her, allowing her to unswaddle Ben, giving his limbs more freedom. She winced when she started checking him over. Beebee didn't like his rest being disturbed, but almost mournfully made noised as she got him levered onto his side to check his back. A large bruise and wound was there, along with long scrapes from where she had to drag him naked, his foot heels had these too as they had been sticking out. Rey looked to the plants and grabbed a large branch shoving the leaves into her mouth and chewing it, before spitting it out into her hands and spreading it thickly onto the largest of the wounds. 

The sudden warmth and hiss, along with a great spasm Ben moved, crackling fire almost encasing his chest. "Sssush." she soothed, brushing his hair back. "He hissed again, the fire starting to run down his arms. "Sleep-sleep my beautiful good boy," she started to sing. There was an intake of breath for a moment his eyes fluttered open, burning and red like the eyes of the dragon. She put her hand on his cheek. "Quietly the moon is looking in your cradle, I will tell you fairy tales, and sing you little songs, but you must slumber with your eyes closed." A shiver passed through him, and his eyes closed before his body slumped back down boneless. The fire around his body started to fade away. "Time will come, when you learn the soldiers life..." she soothed, and watched as BeeBee brought her more of the plants. She alternated singing and chewing portions of it, her mouth going numb after a long while of applying the paste of the plants onto his wounds. She ripped off both sleeves, and more of her dress up to create bandages, she could go looking for more clothes, but for now she was down to a simple covering around her torso the dress now ending just above her knee. 

It was the afternoon, when she heard a light groan, and was by his side in a moment, having a few hours she had found a source of drinking water at the least, she didn't care to follow it to its source, one of the eye sockets, which constantly rained a small trickle of water into a low pool on the bottom of the island. Containing it in a glass bottle that had once contained wine, which she poured out, and refilled she smiled as he at least drank some water. "You..." he told her barely above a whisper. "Should have let me die." Rey took a drink of the water after him and settled it near him. 

"IF you died, how will I learn about dragons?" she countered to him. But he was already asleep again. BeeBee seemed more sated and less anxious at the moment as she turned to him. "Do you know what he usually eats?" she asked the creature. It looked up at her curiously, and started down. Rey had to scramble to follow him back down to the bottom of the island and to a shallow pool that contained resting fish. When it tried to grab one, the fish hopped out and back into the ocean leaving her to giggle at him. "I've got it, I think I saw some spears..." she grinned and went to where she had found the bottle. Just inside yet another portion of the island where several small ships and boats where, all that she could see in a state of rot, broken up, and capsized. There was one that was nearly bristled with spears and shields along the side, she grabbed one, and left the area with a single backwards glance. "How will I actually cook these things..." she mumbled going back to the pool, BeeBee was watching the pool avidly and hungrily, as more fish had replaced the fleeing ones. There was a small hole going directly towards the ocean allowing the fish more of a place to flee, or to come up into it. "Okay, I can do this. I can do this." she told herself. 

It took three tries, and she had to go to the shallow ocean part, but finally she had a fish speared, which she tossed, and scowled at BeeBee as he ate it, coughing up the head as she went back to trying to fish. After five, she frowned at them, and folded them up in some sailcloth to look for a way to start a fire and cook them. In one of the many caves and hollows of the island she found plenty of dried driftwood piled high up against one corner as if the sea had formed and pressed it in there in a long ago storm. Taking enough for a small fire she took everything into the high cave where Ben was. Once she had formed a firepit in a low hollow she frowned realizing then she had never started a fire without a small ember or a candle burning. 

BeeBee having followed her stared at her small pile and make a strange humming noise before gagging and then coughing up a truly vile smelling substance that he spat out onto the wood that started smoking immediately. A small fire was soon crackling away as the creature curled up sated and happily 'humming' or 'cooing' next to her. Rey reached down and stroked its scales. "Thanks, you're a life saver." she told BeeBee. With a sharp bit of bone, she had the fish descaled with BeeBee eating everything as she gut the fish, cut off the tails and then heads, and planting them over the fire on long sticks to cook. "Maybe we can find cookpots in the wrecks, and clothes for me." She frowned at the ruined dress. "So much for a wedding." 

While the fish was unseasoned completely at least it was filling, as she bit into it tearing off chunks and spiting out tiny bones. Ben still had not woken up as she carefully took one, hissing a little as she more carefully picked out bones out of two by him. "Ben?" she called, and reached out touching his shoulder. "I have food, come on, you need to wake up." He didn't stir, but he was breathing strongly. She let her hand travel upwards, just ghosting along his exposed neck, and cheek, to his hair. Now dried but crusted with salt she ran a few of the strands through her fingers. She sighed by him and settled the cooked fish by his shoulder to go scavenge through the ships again. 

Going through them was no real easy task, thankfully nothing caught on her already shortened dress, if she hadn't destroyed it, it would have been caught, likely leaving her in the state she was in right now. She did find a cookpot in the bowels of one of the ships, along with boxes, so many boxes of spices still wonderfully sharp and good encased in wax sealed containers the size of her head and bigger. She even found mortars and pestles that she could use to grind down peppercorns in more then one of these bottles. Taking it all up to the cave was less work then dragging Ben up there, and buy the time she had a decent cooking set up she went back looking for more clothes. Those she found in crates and boxes loaded haphazardly around the cave. Like someone had just shoved them into the cave without caring about the contents. The first longer dress she found, a sort of night dress she put on, now feeling far far less unclothed she traveled back up to the cave to make some kind of soup she could get Ben to drink. He couldn't sit there eating nothing, he needed food. 

Thankfully she was able to get more water into him, and started to settle into putting random things into a pot, the cooked fish, some spices, until she found it tasty, and random bits of the fruit around the island as BeeBee followed her around, she showed a few of the other stranger ones, one large spiked one to him that smelled vile. He clicked happily. Another one that almost looked like a pear he shook at, and she tossed remembering to never try to eat the fruit there again. It seemed odd, how quickly she found she could understand the creature, as she went back with the fruits, and some nuts encased in thick furry shells, she went back to preparing the soup, it came out almost sweet, the hairy red nuts were watery and sweet in the inside meat. The large spiked fruit she set out to dry and to take some of the vile smell out hopefully. Maybe it was like the cheese her father favored that smelled vile, but he claimed was 'better then the cheddar' she preferred. If only there was some of that around. 

Putting a little of the soup into a large pewter bowl she found among everything else, almost with cutlery, plates, and so forth she took it to Ben. "Ben? I have some soup ready, you need to eat." she settled by him and grabbed his shoulder shaking it. Finally, finally he brought out of his dreams and groaned as he woke up. Rey pulled his head sideways onto her lap so that it would be easier to feed him. For a moment he stared at her, eye twitching before reluctantly allowing her to feed him. 

"Why?" he asked as she got more water into him. 

"Because, I want to learn about dragons." he blinked settling down and sighing. 

"I want to be human." she smiled to him. 

"How about this, you teach me about dragons, and I will teach you to be a human?" She rose her hand holding it out to him. Shakily he rose his own and shook it. "You remembered?" she smiled to him as he nodded slowly. "I'm so glad you are okay." he squeezed his eyes shut and sighed again. "Ben?" 

"I'm okay... Rey. You need to leave this place." she looked to him and frowned. 

"How? I don't know how to sail, I don't know of the men who would come to save me... only my father. But he can not leave for me." she looked around the cave and figured if she was going to spend anytime here, she could make it livable. 

"You... are not afraid of me?" he asked her. Her heart sped up a little, and there was something else, almost like a trail of fire beating from the smallest of embers growing in her heart and racing out. 

"I don't want to be." she told him honestly. He moved, pushing himself up to sitting painfully and holding an arm around his waist. "Are you okay?" she asked him, heading to his side, he flinched when she reached for him so she stalled placing her hands into her lap. 

"Rey... do you know why... the dragon wants you?" he asked her. She shook her head, as he looked pained again. "When... a long time ago, there was a war between our kind. And a great mage of your people placed a curse on us all. So that we could no longer... live on. But we... this...." he gestured around him. "My, great ancestor found a way around this curse. We take a... sacrifice... and that...." he grimaced. "They, are burned, burned from within and out from our fire, the there in the ashes of.... their body there is... a baby." Rey nodded to him. "It has...had... effects. All those in this line can only pass themselves down once. It can not happen again, but it leaves them with the memory of their fathers, their mothers, all into the first that started this." He went silent closing his eyes and settling himself a little more comfortably down. 

"So this is what the dragon wants? Is it what you want?" 

"I never wanted this, I've hated the very day I was born..." he mumbled. "It wants to live, it wants to... pass down.... My father told me that its our nature, its the nature of all things to want to pass down our lives." 

"To have children..." she replied to him. Ben looked at her. "So your mother...." he took a shaky breath. 

"She was a princess... my... we spent more time with her since great ships were sent after her. He had to ensure that none would find her and get to her.... but it still... happened. He... I-... didn't enjoy what happened." He put his hand to his face and she reached out touching his shoulder. 

"Then that makes you quite a bit more human than you think." He froze gaping to her. "Beasts do not regret their actions, only humans do." there was a flicker of something in his eyes, and for a moment flames licked at his chest, bursting out from his heart. It stopped a moment later as he growled and panted repressing it down, she remained motionless and smiled to him. 

"Please, just leave before I hurt you." he begged lightly. 

"I can't leave until you are well at least. Its... my fault you were hurt." small flickers of the same fire ran through his veins. It extinguished quickly, as he stared to her. 

"Rey I can't... I can't control it. I can't stop it..." she stayed by him until he seemed to give up what resistance he had left. "Before... you... sang a song... what was it?"

"Its a lullaby, mothers sing it to children to help them sleep." she told him, and hummed a few notes. Ben relaxed further, sliding down to lay back down propping his head up a little. "I think, we can make this place more livable." 

"What do you mean?" she smiled looking around again, plans for the space forming in her mind. 

"Comfortable, like a area to sleep, to eat, to read perhaps?" That little ember inside of her grew just a little more. "I might be spending a long while here with you." Ben blinked his eyes back open to her as a frail smile took his features. "I named your friend...I think he likes BeeBee." said creature was only now scrambling into the area from a smaller hollow. 

"I guess... Rey... I'm sorry, I'm sorry I took you away." she grinned to him and pushed herself to stand up. 

"I'm not." that bit of fire in her felt just a tiny bit hotter with that, just a little more of a flame, growing and feeding inside of her as she left the cave staring out into the sea. 


End file.
